The Case for the DatejustThe Datejust launched in 1945 as ref. 4467, the first self-winding wristwatch to display the date in a window on the dial. That single mechanical fact restructured what a modern watch could be, and the design Rolex settled on has not fundamentally changed since: the same cyclops lens over the date, the same proportional relationship between case, dial, and bezel, the same Oyster bracelet architecture. That visual continuity has built the Datejust into a classic of the modern market.No reference in the Rolex catalog offers the configuration spread the Datejust does. Across eight decades in production, it has been made in 31mm, 36mm, 41mm and more, in steel, two-tone, and precious metals, with smooth, fluted, and diamond-set bezels, on jubilee and Oyster bracelets, and with dials ranging from the plainest stick-printed silver to meteorite, onyx, and color lacquer.